


Diamond

by LunaChi_KuroShihone



Series: Gemstones [11]
Category: Fate/stay night & Related Fandoms
Genre: Confusion, F/M, Family, Funny, Time Travel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-29
Updated: 2016-07-29
Packaged: 2018-07-27 13:40:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,143
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7620463
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LunaChi_KuroShihone/pseuds/LunaChi_KuroShihone
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A different reality, a different choice, a different fate:</p><p>Watch as the Knights of the Round are Summoned, their reactions and thoughts in These fleeting minutes. Short Chapter-Snippets as they look upon the Once and Future King, living not a life of bloodshed and betrayal, but of love and happiness.<br/>Watch as Saber meets friends of old, and tears are shed.</p><p>Each Chapter is Stand-Alone in a Parallel Universe, and each focuses on one of the Knights. They are roughly a little more than 1000 Words Long each.</p><p>Ten down; the fair Queen, Steward, the loyal friend, the best Knight, the White Knight, the Traitor Son, the True Hero of the Grail Quest, the Other True Hero of the Grail Quest, The-Father-who-is-not-one-of-the-Knights-but-an-Assassin, the Archer who Doubted and the not quite King</p>
            </blockquote>





	Diamond

The summoning circle blinked brightly as the white clad Servant emerged.

Taking a short second to smooth out the edge of the dress, she tried to think what she was doing, before-

"I am Servant Saber, a pleasure meeting you, Master."

She blinked. What were those words she had just spoken?

Information filtered through her brain, and she blinked in surprise.

_Holy Grail War?_  
_Masters? Servants?_  
_Magi?_

"…I see…" She muttered, glancing up at the person -people- she addressed as Master.

"…I was summoned as a _'Servant'_ to fight in this _'Holy Grail War'_ with my ' _Master'_ "

Another short pause. "I better hope this isn't another play from Merlin. I've decidedly had enough of them."

"I would agree, though I believe that Merlin might not be at fault, for once."

Saber's eyes widened as she glanced at the woman before her.

Mirror Image.

That was her first thought. The woman looked exactly like herself, only wearing a battle gown of a different color than her own-

…dress?

Master and Mirror Image completely forgotten, Saber glanced down at her own clothing — actually taking time to look at it — and frowned.

"This… is _not_ what I'd normally wear, admittedly."

It was much too elegant, for one. And much too frilly and feminine (though, if she were to admit it, she liked it, somehow). Normally she'd wear something that would conceal her gender more than this… dress.

"I agree again, it is not."

Saber - and when did she start thinking about herself as Saber anyway? - looked up again, coming face to face with her Mirror Image. Her hand went to her sword, thankful that it was still there.

"Who are you?"

There was a silent snort to the side, and she glanced at the man - _her Master_.

"I am Saber."

Saber blinked. What? "Impossible, I am Saber."

'Saber' glanced at her sword, smiling wistfully. Saber narrowed her eyes, noting that the lookalike has not drawn any weapon yet.

"Caliburn, the sword that chooses. How long has it been that I laid eyes on it?"

"Wha?"

Her weapon was indeed Caliburn. A Caliburn that was vibrating softly, almost happily.

She glanced at the woman in front of her, her eyes widening. "Merlin did say that there are many impossible things in the world. This occurrence seems to be one of them."

Her lookalike and her Master - who is now standing next to her - smiled. Saber continued her thought. "You are me. Somehow."

'Saber' smiled. "Indeed. Even if we were aiming for a different Servant."

Then she frowned. "Though I cannot for my life recall anything of the sort happening."

Her frown deepened, and she let out a soft growl. "I retract my earlier statement. This is the work of the Flower Magus, all right."

Saber flinched back. This other her was scary. What could have Merlin done to earn her ire?

Then something dawned. "You are me from the future, right?"

'Saber' nodded.

"Then can you tell me what happened? To Ector, Kay or-"

" _No_."

Her gaze was solemn. "It would do you no good to gain knowledge of the future."

"Ah, I see."

She would trust in the judgement of herself.

Her gaze turning to her Master, something on her mind, as she frowned.

Something was missing.

Saber glanced between the tree of them. "…How is Master going to keep us apart, if both of us are 'Saber'?"

Her Master grinned. "Firstly, it's Shirou Emiya. Secondly, we'll call you Saber Lily."

"Oh?" 'Saber' looked at the newly christened Shirou -though, Saber noted, they knew each other obviously.

Admittedly, she wasn't too fond of the nickname either. She was about to object, when her counterpart spoke up. "I believe it suits her. How did you come up with it?"

Wait, what?

Shirou explained jovially. "Her dress reminds me of the flower, so I thought it suited."

"…" Saber, or rather Lily now, tried to suppress her twitching eye.

She wasn't really that fond of the flower, so why would her older self say yes?

She shot her a questioning glance, which was answered with a small smile. "It is the favourite flower of Guinevere."

"… King Leodegrance's daughter?"

"Do you know any other Guinevere?"

"…well, no." Lily thought for a second, before she relented. "Fine, I'll go by Lily then."

Her gaze turned from her future self to Shirou. "Who are you really, and how do you know me?"

He blinked, muttering something about _'bossy women in his life'_ , to which Saber elbowed him, before he reintroduced himself. "As I said before, my name is Shirou Emiya. I'm a third rate Magus with an affinity for swords. As for how I know you," he glanced at her future self, who was watching the exchange, smiling softly.

"You -or rather, Saber here- was summoned by my old man into the fourth Grail War. Circumstances later, I summoned her into the fifth, after which she stayed due to even more… circumstances."

He smiled sheepishly at her, and Lily looked back, nonplussed. "These 'circumstances' have obviously _nothing_ to do with this weird summoning, right? Or the whole future knowledge?"

"No, _of course_ not." His grin was infectious, however, and Lily found herself drawn to it.

She grinned back, Caliburn humming softly.

"How were we able to summon you, anyhow?"

Saber asked a very good question. One Lily didn't have the answer to, unfortunately.

From the knowledge gained through the Grail or whatever, she knew that one had to be a Heroic Spirit or a Counter Guardian to be summoned - as well as dead.

And Lily was sure that she was very much alive still, when she went to bed.

Still, recounting the tale might give some insight to her summon -and the dress.

"Bedivere, Kay and I were going over a map of the forests surrounding our current camp. It was said that a friendly spirit lived there, so we were thinking about crossing it, that we may gain advantage over the invading forces."

Lily grimaced at the memory, just as Saber nodded her head. "I remember that. I can guarantee that the plan will come into fruition."

_?_

What happened to not telling about the future? Shaking her head lightly, Lily continued.

"After that, there was a commotion outside -it turned out that one of the soldiers had his birthday- and there was a small feast."

There was a short silence.

"I had too much a drink, I believe, and before I went to bed, Merlin handed me something that would ease my growing headache - the growing …hangover, isn't it?"

Lily could see the cogs turning in her older self's head as she continued. "That was the last thing happening before I fell asleep and woke up here."

Shirou looked contemplative, glancing between herself and her older self.

"Saber…?"

Her voice was but a growl.  
_That did_ not _happen to_ her _._

" _Merlin_!"


End file.
